Sunday, January 18, 2009

Peggy sent me a link to a site called obamiconme, where you can do a version of Shepard Fairey's now famous Obama poster. It's kind of fun play around with. Here's the original (on the left, in case you weren't sure), one of me, one of Michele and me, and our cat Nigella. Enjoy!

About "hope"...here's a great point of view (which I coincidentally, happen to share) exposed by Pr. Chomsky which you might like (or not) to allow on your blog since it can also be read as a humorous statement of people's despair:

"Obama’s handlers, the campaign managers, have created an image that is essentially a blank slate. In the Obama campaign the words are hope, change, unity – totally vacuous slogans said by a nice person, who looks good and talks nicely – what commentators call 'soaring rhetoric' – and you can write anything you like on that blank slate." Furthermore, "support for Obama is a popular phenomenon," which "reflects the alienation of the population from the institutions. People are grasping at a straw: here’s a possibility that maybe somebody will stand up for what they want." He continues: "[T]he Obama phenomenon, I think, reflects the alienation of the population that you find in the polls: 80% say the country is run by a few big interests. While Obama says we are going to change that, there’s no indication of what the change is going to be. In fact, the financial institutions, which are his major contributors, think he’s fine, so there’s no indication of any change. But if you say “change,” people will grasp at it; you say “change” and “hope,” and people will grasp at this and say, OK, maybe this is the savior who will bring about what we want, even though there is no evidence for it. ... So I think the Obama phenomenon and people’s alienation go hand in hand."